Jordan - Living a Life of Significance

Table Of Contents

: Do You Hear What I Hear?

: That Time Before

: Dawn of the Information Age

: Important Influences

: Stories That Resonate

: View From the Future

: A Life Interrupted

: Coming to Terms

: Finding Julius

: Digging Deeper

: Tapping The Well Within

: A Mothers Struggle and a Sons Vocation

: The Crane and the Crash

: Seeing Ghosts

: Thinking Beyond Yourself

: So, Get Inspired

: Your Life of Significance

: Question Early & Often

: The Most Important Question

: Exercise Both Sides of Your Brain

: Trust Yourself

: Personal Journey

What People

Are Saying

Joe Jordans engaging stories will help any advisor deepen their sense of meaning and purpose. Living a Life of Significance is a gift to help boost energy, confidence, and clarity, teaching advisors how their work creates profound transformations in countless lives.

Dan Sullivan

Founder of Strategic Coach

Joes philosophy became self-evident as he understood how certain financial tools would have changed his familys life. He has an air of wisdom, empathy, and renaissance. All the best, my friend.

Phil Harriman

Former Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) President

There are only a handful of people who go about their everyday lives working to make a difference, and Joe is one of them. A life of significance is something we all must choose to do, and Joe supplies the motivation.

Gordon Watson

Executive Vice President & Regional Managing Director, AIA Group

Jordan is an Olympic-sized thinker who motivates and inspires in a manner that is without peer. Your practice has been short-changed if you havent read every word.

Dr. Larry Barton, CAP

President and CEO, The American College

Living a Life of Significance is essential reading for your practice and for your soul.

Nick Murray

Resources in Nick Murray Interactive, July 2011

Joe is an inspirational speaker who cares passionately about the financial profession and fully understands the challenges these experts face.

Fay Goddard, UK

Chief Executive of The Personal Finance Society

*See full text of What People Are Saying on page 195 in the back of the book.

Copyright 2013 Joseph W. Jordan

All rights reserved.

Boston, MA

ISBN: 978-0-9890001-1-6

Cover, Back Cover, and Author Images Natalie Brasington

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Published by Acanthus Publishing, Boston, Massachusetts.

*Chief Seattle speech used with permission from Ted Perry, Fletcher Professor of the Arts and Professor of Film & Media Culture

Reference herein to any commercial product, service, or company/organization by trade name, trademark, service mark, or other promotional language/imagery does not constitute or imply an endorsement or recommendation by Joseph Jordan. The purpose of this promotional material, which appears on the back cover, is to encourage use of the book and concepts within certain companies/organizations. In all dealings with the insurance and financial services industries, Joseph Jordan remains impartial and does not endorse a particular company, product, or service.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my wife, Geraldine; my daughter, Sarah; and my son, Joey, for their encouragement.

I would also like to recognize the contributions of the outstanding staff at Acanthus Publishing. For Paige Stover Hagues assistance with this book, the editorial skills of Madeline Rau, Theresa Yannetty, and Andrea Weidknecht, and the design work of Ian Nichols and Billi Solis.

Gratitude goes to those who shared their stories in this book: Jack Dempsey, T.J. Rogers, Ann Marie Miller, Art Steinberg, Bob Weaver, Paris Lewis, Lonnie Colson, Mike Amine, Ying Ling Zhang, Roland Basinski, David McBride, Kathy McBride, and the Cobb family.

I want to thank Thia Reggio, who helped write the book. In addition, I would like to show my appreciation for Nick Murray both for his wisdom and example, and for introducing me to Steven Pressfields book The War of Art , which pushed me to finish this book. I am also grateful to Bob Benmosche for his support, along with Larry Barton and Eileen McDonnell, who proposed the idea of writing this book. I very much appreciate Jack Turner for getting me started. And a special thanks to Joel L. Franks, whose dedication and perseverance made this book possible.

Foreword

J oseph Jordan is a gifted communicator with a deep knowledge of insurance products, their construction, and pricing. Though these qualities place him among a select group of colleagues, these are not his most extraordinary capabilities.

The most compelling quality that separates Joe from the other members of this select group is his ability to perceive financial products in the greater scheme of things and think about them from the perspective of our customers, rather than how industry insiders see them.

Joe Jordans constitution is built on a strong set of personal values. He possesses an internal set of ethical guidelines that enable him to look at the insurance industry from a distinct perspective. From Joes view of the world, we in the insurance industry earn our living in the noblest profession on earth, and each one of us is living a life of significance. I cannot imagine a better way to define the mission of the organization I have the great honor to lead.

Joe discusses how the Longevity Tsunami is overwhelming traditional benefits and entitlements of governments and corporations. He sheds light on the subject; he explains how the insurance industry is uniquely positioned to provide independence, dignity, and legacy to the aging population of the world. This mission should be the major message of our industry: inspiring financial professionals to think beyond personal gain and to focus on the impact we have on individuals. As traditional entitlements are disappearing, this should be our time for financial services professionals to rise up. We must regain the trust required to help people overcome todays dramatic changes.

A man who has mastered the complexity of simplicity, Joe urges us not to focus on what we want (corporate, personal goals) and how to get what we want (knowledge, skills, strategy), but why we do it. Evaluating our mission to focus on living a life of significance in the service of others inspires us to overcome any obstacle. Viktor Frankl, a Nazi concentration camp survivor, once said, He who has a why to live can bear almost any how .All of us who have made our career in the financial service industry owe a debt of gratitude to Joe Jordan for restoring our collective self-esteem at a time when we are most needed.

Share this book with your professional colleagues. Help support the movement to restore the public image of the insurance industry. It all starts with us, with you. By incorporating the ideas Joe Jordan offers in this book, we can transform societys perception of us and regain our sense of purpose.